I know this song lyric is often quoted, but considering that today brings me to my 100th. post, I cannot help but reflect on the Grateful Dead lyric, "What a LOOOONG strange trip it's been". Comparison and contrast from the start of this blog:
- First post, I started this blog as a way to cultivate my love for comic book culture, and as a coping mechanism for my struggles with finding employment.
- 100th. post, my love for comics has not lessened in the least, and certain television programming has helped ENABLE that love, and as of this past week, I received notice that come 12/15/2014, I'll be starting a new job that will offer more pay and benefits.
It was with some bittersweet feelings that this transition happened, because I WISH I had more time to notify my previous job's coworkers of the changeover, and it will be REALLY weird, later this coming week, when I stop over for my last official job paycheck. But evolution is far from easy; just ask the Cro-Magnon, or the residents of the pre New-52 DC Universe! But just because I've reached "100 Pages" in this blog, that by NO means is the end of the book! I never intended this blog to be a finite project; as long as I love comics, and they provide me with escapism and entertainment, I'll be writing as furiously as ever! But how to cap off such a milestone? Well... We shall expand on the genesis of this blog project to begin with!
As some of you may remember, this blog was born NOT FAR OFF from my actual birthday of June 13th., and a self-treat to myself that day gave me the idea of how exciting comic book conversation can be, when I found at a comic shop near my girlfriend's home copies of the TWO "Superman and Spider-Man" tabloid crossovers. For YEARS, these books were sort of "Holy Grail" items for me. I did once own copies of these two stories in the "Marvel/DC Crossover Classics" trade, but let's be honest; NOTHING beats the original tabloid presentation. And the concept of two competing companies crossing over marquee characters for one EPIC meeting never lost its appeal. ... Despite the fact that both Marvel and DC will probably NEVER engage in such a collaboration, again. Sigh... Well, we had a fruitful set of years in the mid-70's to early 80's, then another boom in the 90's. But for every crossover opportunity, including the mini-series "DC Vs. Marvel", there remained MANY missing opportunities. Stories that, if the companies remained in a collaborative spirit, they could still plumb. And this 100th. post is dedicated to 10 of the "Dream Projects" I would have wanted to see happen, along with what ideas I had for these special events!
Before I get into the gritty details, I have to thank kindly the permission of Ross from
Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues, for the use of sets of images for this post. I would HIGHLY recommend you readers check out his website, if you aren't familiar with it, already. Not only is he well-spoken in his posts, but for EVERY SINGLE DAY, he generates some of the most FUN imaginary crossover covers your mind could even fathom! Seriously, you could lose HOURS exploring this site, and you will make your phone wallpaper very happy with Ross' artwork! So again, special thanks to him for allowing me to use some of his created artwork for some of my crossover ideas. Great minds think alike! So, let us proceed, and in no particular order...
NEW TEEN TITANS AND NEW WARRIORS: If only their "hot" periods had intersected more closely, these two teamings of the Marvel and DC universes' younger champions of justice would have been a genuine blast! Picture, if you will, Robin/Nightwing trading martial arts counters with Night Thrasher, Changling and Speedball making TERRIBLY sexist remarks about their mutual female team members, Namorita and Starfire... er... "wrestling", and if this was done during the period where Rage was a member of the Warriors, I'm sure he and Cyborg would have a stereotypical "street-smart" character showdown! But who would be their mutual threat sharing? Hmm... We COULD go for their two big "powerhouse" villains to start the conflict, like maybe Trigon and the Sphinx. Unless you wanted to count their first two major villains... but let's be honest: two teams of the most powered "kids" of each universe would not break MUCH of a sweat when facing down Doctor Light and Terrax the Tamer.
AQUAMAN AND NAMOR, THE SUB-MARINER: Kings of the Seven Seas. Monarchs of the depths. Men who, at one time or another, BOTH sported long hair and beards... I think the Robinson clan owe Aquaman and Namor MAD PROPS for their general style. We only got our "toes wet" with a brief meeting between the two characters in the aforementioned "DC Vs. Marvel" miniseries, but what I wouldn't have given for these Atlantean titans to cross paths for one SUPER-SIZED special! Think of the fun that would ensue when Dorma and Mera would exchange notes about their aquatic squeezes, or when Namorita and Aqualad probably awkwardly flirted. (I would mention any potential crossings with Aquaman's two noted "finny friends", Salty and Topo, but Namor really NEVER seemed to care to cultivate relationships with his aquatic subjects.) And of course, we would REALLY see a prime exchange of aquatic prowess between Arthur Curry and Namor, that wouldn't just be limited to a handful of pages. As for their mutual threats, can't do much worse than the constant thorns in their controlling sides, Ocean Master and Attuma teaming up to overthrow and dispose of their obstacles to absolute sinister rule of the Seven Seas! In the words of the "Brave and the Bold" Aquaman, "OUTRAGEOUS!".
BLACK CANARY AND BLACK WIDOW: Now this is a tricky one to make happen... Not because of the notion of two of comicdom's most lethal ladies crossing paths, because who WOULDN'T want to see the Mistress of the Canary Cry square off against the carrier of the Widow's Sting bracelets? But the one iffy point of this crossover is: who would be the villains? I admit, my recollection of both characters' histories can be rather foggy on their individual basis, so hence coming up with ANY arch-enemies is rather difficult. If I really HAD to stretch, I do remember Dinah Lance/Queen squaring off against Blockbuster more than a handful of times in "Birds of Prey", and you could always wrangle up one of Natasha Romanov's former Soviet allies, like the Crimson Dynamo, to serve as opposing "muscle". But if you timed this crossover to just the RIGHT era, you could have Daredevil and Green Arrow show up to exchange notes about their relationships with the femme fatales! (I imagine Matt Murdock would probably at LEAST want to sock Oliver Queen once for something silly he says. Or maybe from a blind Green Arrow chili taste-test!)
BEN REILLY "SPIDER-MAN" AND DICK GRAYSON "BATMAN": Interesting that both concepts of "replacing" the "old-guard" were nearly a decade apart. On Marvel's side, when the "Clone Saga" APPARENTLY wrapped up, Ben Reilly was supposed to step in for the full-time replacement of a retired Peter Parker. And in the wake of "Final Crisis", when Bruce Wayne was Omega-Beamed REAL GOOD by Darkseid... and thought dead... Dick Grayson took up the mantle of the Batman, with Damien Wayne becoming a difficult Robin with this relationship. If only these events occurred more closely together in timing, so that we could have seen how a crossover would have looked when we had a Spider-Man that was FAR more self-doubting, meeting a Batman that was a TIDGE more light-hearted than the Bruce Wayne incarnation. As for their villains to face off against... as much as I LOATHE the Jackal, seeing Dick talk about how much the "Maximum Clonage" version resembled the Joker would be amusing, while Batman could offer that period's take on the Jason Todd "Red Hood" for his foe serving!
GREEN ARROW AND THE PUNISHER: Once upon a time, after Mike Grell's "Longbow Hunters" mini-series, Oliver Queen cultivated a hard-line edge on crime fighting. Gone were the gimmick arrows, and the lack of a "killer instinct". And I think that POTENTIALLY he could've seen eye-to-eye with Frank Castle's outlook on crime-fighting, which was let the lead fly, and let the Afterlife sort the scum out! Of course, the MAJOR risk of a crossover between two characters that, at their particular creative periods, had LITTLE repeat villains, because it's hard to repeat criminals that have bullets... or arrows... in their brains. But I think SOMETHING could have been worked out, like maybe Green Arrow's sometimes regular sparring partner, Merlyn, and Punisher's cyber-armed baddie, Bushmaster. But ANOTHER appeal to this crossover is seeing how the more level-headed partners of Green Arrow and Punisher interacted with each other, talking about how difficult it would be to be associated with them; namely Black Canary and Microchip!
X-MEN AND JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: I know... Some of you are probably saying, "What? Are you NUTS?!?". Hear me out: the X-Men are perennially regarded as the "misfits toys" of the Marvel Universe, and when the JLI period of the Justice League existed, they were certainly not what people usually regarded as their traditional "World's Greatest Heroes". So it stands to reason that a team that was created mostly for interpersonal drama would make for a VERY interesting mix with a team that was created mostly for interpersonal humor! I don't even think the villain choices would be all THAT important... though it WOULD be fun to see a team of X-Villain "losers" try and mash up with the "Injustice Gang". Rather, seeing how a team that thrived on angst and alienation meshed with a team that argued and joked about each other would be the TRUE driving force of this crossover! And c'mon... Just the thought of Guy Gardner and Wolverine butting heads would sell copies in ANY comic period!
WONDER WOMAN AND THOR: Sure, sure... This crossover already KIND of happened twice: "DC Vs. Marvel" and a bit in "JLA/Avengers". But I would want a REAL crossover between the two mythological figureheads of both companies, the Amazonian princess and the God of thunder. I would want to see how Diana Prince's Amazon might would stand to the test in a showdown with the Odinson's might and fierce pride! And I would also REALLY like to see as the foes behind this showdown appear to be their mutual primary trickster thorns in their side, Circe and Loki. And if you wanted to throw some "muscle" into the mix, you couldn't go much more wrong than giving focus to their primary physical threats, the Cheetah and Ulik. But this is but ONE part of my Thor Crossover "trilogy", as we then lead on to...
THOR AND THE NEW GODS: For those of you old... or retro... enough to remember "Thor Annual #5", that special featured an epic battle between the Greek and Norse pantheons. Now, take the basis of that special, and transition it over to the Norse Gods clashing with their potential "Fallout" successors... the Gods of New Genesis and Apokalips... and you have a crossover with more explosive firepower than a Boom Tube! Thor clashing with Orion! The Warriors Three good-naturedly meeting with the Forever People! Lightray and Sif... or maybe even Baldur... being level-headed soothers of hot tempers! Odin and Highfather trying to seek wisdom in the midst of the chaos most LIKELY instigated by either Loki... or for something different, the Enchantress, and Darkseid! ... Awesome, I know, right? Well, see where you stand with the final part of the "Thor"-logy...
SUPERMAN AND THOR: We saw the results of their clashing in "JLA/Avengers", but what about a simple TEAM UP with the two most recognizable powerhouses of their shared universes! The space-science powers of Kal-El meshing with the mystical musculature of the Odinson! But this time out, for such a crossover, we would have to fade away from the Loki connection, because even Trickster Gods need SOME vacation time! So they could go the way of scientific threats for both characters by having the WELL-KNOWN Lex Luthor cross plans with the lesser-known Zarko the Future Man. Or if you wanted a "Tag Team Slobber Knocker" of a crossover, why not have the mindless menaces of Doomsday and the Destroyer meld to try utterly DEMOLISHING our team of heroes? DC and Marvel... If you made that happen, you may as well ask for my check RIGHT NOW for a copy.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA AND THE INVADERS/SGT. FURY AND SGT. ROCK: We end this entry's list with the option of DC's and Marvel's World War II-era titans in a DREAM crossover! I can't even begin to think about how much fun it would be to see unions of the Axis Powers of BOTH universes be unified against the JSA and the Invaders! I imagine Per Degaton and Red Skull would have their sticky Nazi fingers in the middle of stirring the pot of first misunderstood conflict among the teams, then assembling allies in a BATTLE ROYALE conclusion! As an added bonus, to make this maybe an EXTRA-SIZED crossover special, you could include the "grunt's point of view" story with Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos meeting with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company to sling hash... and lead... with the Axis foot soldiers! Man... The only way this book could be more more Americana fun was if each copy came sealed with a fresh slice of apple pie!
Once more, I wish to thank Ross of
Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues for the genesis of this blog entry, and the usage of images. I cannot say it enough: CHECK THIS SITE OUT! But if you thought this was the end of this entry... Oh-ho... NO! To make this a REAL fun special occasion, I offer up a contest! Here's what you gotta do: to test your long-time readership of this blog, I have cultivated three questions to ask that relate to this blog's history. All you have to do is send your answers to
ocean1212w@gmail.com, and the first three entries to get ALL THREE questions answered correctly... by, let's say, Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January... will be eligible for prize packages! I'll announce the winners for the weekend leading up to that particular Monday, and notify them via e-mail of their winning. What stands for the winning are HUGE packages of various "Wizard Magazine" issues, mixed ridiculous comic lots I pulled from back issue bins, trade paperbacks, and other goodies! So, if you feel ready to test your meddle, I leave this anniversary entry with a HEARTY thank-you to everyone that's read and supported this personal project of mine, and with the three contest questions! Have at them, true believers, and keep on flying the Mighty Metal Mikey blogging flame! 'Nuff said!
- What comics creator has shown up the most in all of my postings?
- What was the first trade paperback I wrote an entry about?
- What is the EXTREMELY random price I have mentioned paying for cheap back issues at my girlfriend's nearest LCS? (A hint, it is FAR from being close to a number that manages to even out.)
No comments:
Post a Comment